Cypress Boat

«Why is the puppy sitting here all alone?» – Bo Zhou was surprised, and then she smiled and waved at the little Shiba Inu.
The Shiba Inu puppy was chubby, with thick, soft fur. Its two little ears were not yet up, and lay ragged on its head, and its round eyes glistened just so.
Bo Zhou leaned over and tapped on the glass.
«How did you end up alone?»
Asked, she wiped away the condensation with her hand and examined the puppy carefully. She realized that the little Shiba Inu was fenced off in that corner by a tall blue fence. The fence was opaque, and visitors would not have noticed that there was a dog there unless they approached on purpose.
«Poor thing,» Bo Zhou sympathized. All the other dogs had someone to play with, and it was locked in a corner all by itself.
Sang Yang came over with the flowers she had bought, stood next to Bo Zhou, and they watched the puppy together for a while. Then she said slowly:
«It is so cute.»
Bo Zhou nodded.
«Uh-huh.»
«It looks like my little Zhou,» Sang Yang said slowly again.»
Bo Zhou was stunned, her eyebrows furrowed and she pouted:
«In what place?»
«Everywhere,» Sang Yang laughed, her gaze gentle. – «The same smile, clear and sparkling eyes, naivete, and fuzzy little head.»
She even enumerated. Bo Zhou strongly disagreed and had already straightened up, intending to leave. The Shiba Inu puppy also stood up, placing both front paws on the glass. However, it was too small and weak, so it quickly fell back to the ground. Looking at Bo Zhou, it whimpered.
Bo Zhou's heart softened, and she couldn't find the strength to leave it.
So they stared at each other.
«How about I give you a puppy for the New Year?» – Sang Yang suddenly suggested.
Bo Zhou's eyes sparkled and she asked excitedly:
«Can you?»
They had never discussed the subject of pets before, and Bo Zhou had always thought that Sang Yang didn't like them.
«Of course,» Sang Yang leaned over and tapped on the glass. The Shiba Inu puppy wagged its tail happily, it was a very active little dog.
There had to be a reason why the Shiba Inu puppy was fenced in at the cafe, which would surely please the customers. Sang Yang and Bo Zhou questioned the staff and learned that it had only appeared half a month ago, but its fellow old-timers were very finicky and received the puppy less than cordially. They banded together to harass it, and the store owner reluctantly had to isolate it. Now the cafe is negotiating with the pet store to get the dog back.
The arrival of Sang Yang and Bo Zhou solved their problem.
So, they left the cafe with the little puppy.
With a new pet to take care of, it was uncomfortable to attend the party. They returned home and went to the pet store to buy everything they needed for the little Shiba Inu.
By the time they got home, it was snowing. The dark blue sky pressed down on the ground, and snowflakes were falling quietly under the dim yellow light of the streetlights.
«Ugh, it's so cold,» Bo Zhou hugged the little Shiba Inu and shuddered as soon as she got out of the car. Her exhale thickened into a white mist in the frosty winter air.
Sang Yang called Jiang Yuan to tell her that they couldn't make it to the meeting, but half of her attention was on Bo Zhou.
Bo Zhou ran up to Sang Yang and heard Jiang Yuan shouting into the phone:
«Why so suddenly? Not in a friendly way!»
She leaned into the phone with a smile:
«What, did the last nerve cell die?»
From the moment they had met, they had always been at enmity with each other, quarreling often. It's been six or seven years, but nothing has changed.
«There's nothing wrong with my nerves, why get mad at a child who can't live without her jiejie?» – Jiang Yuan's voice sounded cold and contemptuous.
Bo Zhou's mockery had backfired on her. She was about to fight back when Sang Yang spoke up:
«Stop teasing her.»
Bo Zhou became proud when Sang Yang sided with her. Jiang Yuan laughed:
«You always spoil her. One day…» then someone called Jiang Yuan, probably serving food, as the line cut off before she could even finish speaking.
«Hmpf, she's always picking fights with me. I guess she doesn't like me,» Bo Zhou muttered grudgingly.
They came to the threshold of their house, Sang Yang opened the door.
«'I'll see her next time, and…» Bo Zhou didn't have time to finish her sentence before Sang Yang pinched her ear and interrupted her:
«Your ears are red.»
Bo Zhou immediately stopped complaining about Jiang Yuan and looked at Sang Yang pitifully.
«My face is frozen too, it must be red too.»
They were standing at the entrance, still with their coats and scarves on.
Sang Yang put both hands on Bo Zhou's face to warm her up, and soon the warmth of her palms made Bo Zhou's cold cheeks feel better. Bo Zhou looked at Sang Yang and, unable to help herself, leaned in, wanting to kiss her.
«Woof,» the little Shiba Inu barked, breaking the silence.
They looked down and saw that the puppy in Bo Zhou's arms was looking at them, head back.
Bo Zhou and Sun Yang were confused, looked at each other, and jumped with laughter.
«We should introduce it to the house and make a place for it,» Sang Yang said.
Bo Zhou nodded. Keeping a pet was not an easy matter, the preparations for his residence did not need to be delayed.
They put the puppy on the ground first, letting it explore his new home, and then went back to the car to drop off his belongings.
The dog supplies were stacked in a pile and looked like a small hill, Bo Zhou and Sang Yang worked together to unpack and place each item in the room. The dog bed, food bowls, and dog food, canned food, treats, and various toys such as rope bones, rubber balls, puzzle toys, and Frisbees were put in their places.
The little Shiba Inu was a little intimidated by this new unfamiliar home, but its natural curiosity soon overcame its fear. It took small steps, exploring and looking around curiously.
«Hey, doggie,» Bo Zhou called out.
The Shiba Inu puppy was exploring the corner next to the stairs and was startled by her sudden call. It turned his head toward the source of the sound.
Bo Zhou tossed it a small orange ball.
The puppy did not yet know how to catch and just stood still, letting the ball hit it on the forehead. The force of the blow threw his head back and it stood stunned, looking at Bo Zhou with a stupid face.
«You're so stupid, you can't even catch the ball,» Bo Zhou sighed and shook her head.
«You should teach it,» Sang Yang sat down, tired after a whole day of shopping. She leaned on the couch armrest, propping her face up with one hand, and watched as Bo Zhou picked up the ball and threw it a few times. This time the puppy didn't just stand still, but chased the ball around in a circle with excitement.
Bo Zhou said somewhat disappointedly:
«I didn't tell you to chase the ball, I told you to bring it to me.»
The little Shiba Inu did not understand Bo Zhou's intentions and happily continued to chase the ball.
Sang Yang couldn't help but smile as she watched this happen.
After playing with the dog, Bo Zhou tiredly sat down next to Sang Yang, leaning against her. Sang Yang straightened up and patted Bo Zhou's soft hair. She smiled and lowered her head, snuggling gently against Sang Yang's neck like a big puppy.
Her soft hair was like dandelions, which made it tickle Sang Yang slightly.
Sang Yang threw her head back to avoid it, and Bo Zhou took the opportunity to plop her down on the couch.
«Go take a shower,» Sang Yang said with a smile. Bo Zhou had just been playing with the puppy, and a few dog hairs stuck to her clothes.
Bo Zhou, without answering anything, just hugged her.
«If you don't take a shower, you'll turn into a grubby baby,» Sang Yang added a touch of squeamishness to her affectionate voice, but she pulled Bo Zhou closer with her hands.
Bo Zhou curved the corners of her lips and said stubbornly:
«So be it, I'll never let my jiejie go anyway.»
Sang Yang said nothing in reply.
The snow kept falling outside. The French window on the left side was not curtained. Through the dense veil of snow, the twilight was vaguely visible, and snowflakes were falling silently in the light of the courtyard lanterns.
Sang Yang breathed softly right into her ear, and Bo Zhou closed her eyes.
After a while, she thought about something and asked:
«Why did you suddenly decide to get a puppy?»
They had no plans to get a pet, and Sang Yang was a very organized person. Suddenly it wasn't in her nature to bring home a puppy she had met along the way.
«Because you like it, I wanted it to keep you company when I'm not around,» Sang Yang replied slowly. She worked overtime too often and worried that Bo Zhou would be bored at home alone. As she spoke, there was a hint of a smile in her voice. « Besides, it really does look like you, especially sixteen-year-old little Zhou.»
Bo Zhou calmly listened to the first half of the sentence, but when the second half was said, she suddenly became pregnant.
«What? It's stupid!»
«Well, sixteen-year-old Bo Zhou was stupid and cute too. Remember when I was rushing to class once and you were following me with a drawing board on your back, but I didn't have time for you? Then when we walked into the classroom, you called out «jiejie,» and I turned around and saw you looking at me resentfully, almost crying. That's what you reminded me of a little Shiba Inu.»
«I don't remember it!» – Bo Zhou said angrily.
Sang Yang kissed her forehead to calm her anger. Bo Zhou calmed down, but still felt a little upset.
«I think this is unfair.»
Sang Yang listened intently.
«You saw me at sixteen, but I don't know what you were like at sixteen.»
Sang Yang was surprised, and then she laughed softly.
«I was pretty boring, just going to school every day and studying hard. My only goal was to go to a prestigious university. I must have had the most depressing high school life.»
With her words, she wanted to say that her life story was so uninteresting that there was nothing to tell.
Bo Zhou grumbled unhappily:
«I don't care. Even though she's moody, I still want to know. So many people have seen sixteen-year-old you: your teachers, your classmates, and the many strangers you've passed by. Only I haven't seen you.»
«I want to know what color clothes you liked, what music you listened to, who your roommate was, who you were good with, whether you did stupid things, and what made you laugh out loud,» Bo Zhou blurted out in the same breath, her expression very serious.
It looked like she was really curious.
Sang Yang was both confused and laughed at the same time, but she didn't treat it as a childish whim.
«Okay, I'll try to remember,» she replied.
Bo Zhou immediately fell silent and looked at the thoughtful Sang Yang.
Sang Yang slowly began to tell her story:
«In my second year of junior high school, I was in Secondary School №1, Class 9, our class was on the third floor of the new building, next to the east staircase. My roommate was a tall and thin boy who liked to play basketball. We had to wear the school uniform – white with a blue collar. My grades were pretty good, I was usually in the top 5 at the end of the year. Maybe it was because I was a crammer. On Mondays, I was the host of the flag-raising ceremony….»
She talked about everything in order, and the longer Bo Zhou listened to her light and slow voice, the more affectionate her look became.
She imagined the year when Sang Yang was sixteen and she was nine, and she was in an experimental elementary school that was on the other side of town from School № 1.
It was so far away that it was unlikely they would have crossed paths.
But every Saturday she went to art school, which was just a couple of miles from School № 1.
Perhaps one sunny day, on her way out of the studio, she walked past the Sang Yang, standing under the shade of the trees, like the myriad people who pass each other.
Just like that, at nine years old, she must have crossed paths with her for the first time, the first time their destinies intertwined. Seven years later, when Sang Yang was twenty-three and Bo Zhou was sixteen, they met for the first time with their eyes, uttered their first words, smiled silently at each other, and had their first casual touch in the small auditorium.
Bo Zhou looked at Sang Yang, her gentle face, smiling eyes, and listened to her soft, so native, voice.
Finally, Bo Zhou leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
Sang Yang was caught off guard, her long, thick lashes fluttered slightly, and she slowly closed her eyes.
It had been a very good, perfect day. They hugged in the morning, went to the mall to make each other New Year's gifts, got a puppy, and kissed goodnight. There was no winter cold in her memories, only Sang Yang's warm body and her smiling eyes.
But such a beautiful day was so ordinary in the long time they had spent together, because every day went like this. Loving each other was like breathing.
________________________
Wan Dou ran up the stairs and turned around, barking.
They arrived at their destination, interrupting Bo Zhou's memories.
«Take your time,» Bo Zhou said with a smile as she slowly climbed the stairs.
Small daisies bloomed on either side of the path, decorating even this path with their beauty.
Bo Zhou held the flowers and slowly, stepped up the steps.
Finally, she stopped in front of the tombstone.
«Today I came a little early,» Bo Zhou placed the flowers in front of the tombstone. There was already a bouquet lying there, still fresh, that Bo Zhou had put there yesterday.
From the picture, Sang Yang was looking at her, smiling fondly.
Bo Zhou kept her eyes on her, her hand trying to touch the face in the picture, the face deeply imprinted on her heart.
The tombstone was cold, the warmth she was so used to was no longer there. Bo Zhou lowered her hand, then smiled with an effort and said:
«It's all the Wan Dous' fault for waking me up so early. As soon as I opened my eyes, I thought only of you.»
Sang Yang in the picture only smiled silently.
Bo Zhou's smile disappeared, and a hopeless, painful longing filled her heart. She lowered her head helplessly, uttering words that no one would ever answer:
«Jiejie, I miss you so much.»
She was sixteen when she met Sang Yang, and now she is twenty-six. She has spent three springs and autumns alone.
Tomorrow will be exactly three years since Sang Yang left her.